Walmart 'committed to building' in Windsor

May 6, 2013

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In 2007, Walmart purchased a parcel of land in west Windsor, planning for it to be the site of a new 190,000-square-foot shopping center.

And though now, six years later, the land — located between 15th and 17th streets on the north side of Main Street — still remains empty, the retail giant insists it won’t be that way forever.

“Walmart remains committed to building a store to serve our customers in Windsor,” Rachel Wall, senior manager of communications for Walmart, said in an email Friday afternoon. “Presently, there is no timetable for construction. We will continue working closely with the Town of Windsor to ensure that when the process does move forward, the store will meet the expectations of the community and provide customers in Windsor with access to fresh food, groceries and other general merchandise at a great value.”

The company has one year before their vested property rights agreement, which they extended to the summer of 2014 in recent years, expires. Before that time, they must start making progress in their construction process. If they need extra time, Windsor Town Manager Kelly Arnold said they can request another extension of the agreement.

Speaking for the town, Arnold said the addition of Walmart would mean more revenue from the sales tax generated.

“Until the store is up and operating, we have made no revenue forecasts or plans with the potential new sales tax,” Arnold said in an email. “You don’t count it until you got it.”

As of May 3, Walmart still didn’t have a building permit but, according to Johnson, they did have an approved site plan through the town’s planning department.

“The only thing to tell is that they’ve invested in the land and that the town is working with them and we’re staying in contact with them and staying on top of it,” Johnson said, adding that they have plans to meet this summer and check in.

“They’ve always operated with plans that, when their time was right, they’d develop,” Johnson added.

The closest Walmart store to Windsor is eight miles away in Timnath with two more located in Fort Collins.